The Actor Who Played Joe In Bend It Like Beckham Is Unrecognizable Now
The following article references addiction.
Back in 2002, acclaimed filmmaker Gurinder Chadha delivered a coming-of-age tale unlike any other. In the sports dramedy "Bend It Like Beckham," a young woman, along with her good friend, dreams of becoming a professional soccer player (just like soccer legend David Beckham) despite the objections of her traditional Indian family. For Chadha, it was a story that echoed reality in some ways. "For many years, football was very much about hooligans and sort of right-wing people. Anything to do with football was a no-go area if you were a person of color," the director even once told Entertainment Weekly.
Soon after she put the script together, it also didn't take long for Chadha to cast Parminder Nagra as her lead star and Keira Knightley as the friend. After that, she set out to cast Joe, the coach who encourages the women to push their dreams despite objections from their parents. Eventually, the role went to Jonathan Rhys Meyers, an Irish actor who was already a rising star at that time.
After starring in "Bend It Like Beckham," Meyers settled down with his wife, Mara Lane, and became a father. He's also stayed rather busy with his film and TV career.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers signed on to do Bend It Like Beckham with hesitation
Around the time that he was being considered for "Bend It Like Beckham," Jonathan Rhys Meyers had already earned some major acting credits. After making his onscreen debut in the 1994 dramedy "A Man of No Importance," he starred in the drama "Telling Lies in America" with Kevin Bacon, Brad Renfro, Luke Wilson, and Calista Flockhart. He then delivered a breakout performance in the R-rated music drama "Velvet Goldmine" where he landed one of the starring roles, alongside Ewan McGregor and Christian Bale. After that, Meyers also starred in films like "Titus" with Anthony Hopkins and "The Governess" with Minnie Driver. And so, the last thing he wanted to do was a dramedy like "Bend It Like Beckham" at that time.
But then, his brother changed his mind. "He said, 'Do the film. Everybody's going to love this,'" Meyers recalled during an interview with Marie Claire. "It's one of those girly, guilty-pleasure movies. It's on that shelf with 'Dirty Dancing,' 'Footloose,' and 'Beaches.'" Apparently, this was enough to convince him and from the time Meyers signed on, he was all in on the action. "He literally raced across the football field and tackled me to the ground," co-star Parminder Nagra even told The Athletic of their first meeting. Meanwhile, director Gurinder Chadha rewrote Joe as Irish when Meyers was cast. "Bend It Like Beckham" went on to reach the top spot of the U.K. film charts.
He booked several major film projects in the years that followed
After working on "Bend It Like Beckham," the roles just kept on coming for Jonathan Rhys Meyers. For instance, he, once again, landed one of the starring roles in the crime drama "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" alongside Clive Owen and veteran actor Malcolm McDowell. Meyers then joined the cast of the adventure drama "The Emperor's Wife" where he played a chamberlain tasked with finding his emperor the perfect bride.
Not long after that, the actor was also cast in Mira Nair's film adaptation of "Vanity Fair." Based on William Makepeace Thackeray's novel, the 2004 drama tells the story of Becky (Reese Witherspoon) a young woman who makes her way up the social ranks, along with her best friend Amelia (Romola Garai), despite growing up poor. In the film, Meyers plays George Osborne, the man who becomes romantically involved with Amelia. Around the same time, Meyers also went to work on Oliver Stone's "Alexander," the biopic that boasts a star-studded cast that includes Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, Rosario Dawson, and Val Kilmer. In the movie, Meyers plays Cassander, one of the men who serves as Alexander's (Farrell) advisers.
In between these films, Meyers also worked on the television movie "The Lion in Winter," which also stars Glenn Close and Patrick Stewart. The Emmy-winning series tells the story of the time when King Henry II (Stewart) met with Eleanor Aquitaine (Close) to choose a successor among his sons.
His struggles with alcohol made headlines
Alcohol misuse has been an issue throughout Jonathan Rhys Meyers' life. When Meyers was just 3 years old, his father left the family. Back then, his mother spent what little money they had on alcohol. Though Meyers didn't begin drinking until he was in his late 20s, his own struggles soon became apparent. "It puts you to sleep. You just have a drink, and you go to sleep," he once told the Daily Mail. "You can forget about whatever was bothering you."
Beginning in 2005, he was in and out of rehab after suffering relapses. While speaking with The Guardian in 2018, the actor stated, "I am sober 95% of the time and fall down 5% of the time." Over the years, the drinking also led to some run-ins with the law. Back in 2007, Meyers was arrested at the Dublin airport for being drunk and disorderly. A few years later, in 2009, he also got arrested in Paris after a drunken altercation with a waiter at the Charles de Gaulle airport. And in 2020, Meyers was arrested for DUI in Malibu.
Meyers' wife, Mara Lane, has been an immense source of support throughout his sobriety journey. After the actor relapsed on a flight in 2018, Lane acknowledged the incident on Instagram and apologized on his behalf. "Thank you for your compassion on this ongoing battle with addiction we are in," she wrote. Meyers later told People, "My wife is a superior woman. ... I'm very lucky."
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Jonathan Rhys Meyers went on to play Elvis
Despite his personal issues, work never really stopped coming for Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Years before Jacob Elordi or Austin Butler portrayed Elvis on the big screen, Meyers played the King of Rock and Roll in CBS' Emmy-nominated special "Elvis." The 2005 biopic examined Elvis Presley's life and career, from his early years driving trucks to the time that he made his first recordings and enlisted in the military (Presley served in Germany) to his eventual comeback.
And while Meyers never had to learn how to sing like Elvis (the Presley estate allowed the miniseries to utilize the late singer's master recordings), he still had to figure out who the man was behind the legend. That's when Meyers came to realize that he and Presley shared a lot of things in common. "He was a poor boy from Tupelo, Mississippi; I'm a poor boy from County Cork, Ireland. He bought his mama a house with the first big amount of money that he got, and so did I," the actor once told The Washington Post. "He had a lot of insecurities, wasn't liked in school, felt uncomfortable, was a daydreamer — and I had all these things."
Meanwhile, to complete the transformation, Meyers dropped his Irish accent and adopted Presley's infamous Southern drawl as they filmed in New Orleans. Throughout that time, the actor reportedly stayed in character, even preferring to wear Presley's favorite aftershave. Meyers later won a Golden Globe for his performance.
He worked with Scarlett Johansson in a Woody Allen film
Around the time that he was playing Elvis Presley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers also got to work on Woody Allen's "Match Point," which mainly centers on a passionate love affair between Meyers' Chris and Scarlett Johansson's Nola. And while Allen ended up casting Johansson after Kate Winslet backed out of the 2005 film, the director knew he had to cast Meyers as the male lead because he already embodied the character in some ways. "By casting Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, I was casting somebody who is naturally magnetic and sweet and tortured and sympathetic," Allen later told Total Film. "In some ways, you empathise with Jonathan's suffering in the film despite the fact that the situation is pretty terrible." Behind the scenes, however, the situation is far from terrible for Meyers who, having gone from rags to riches himself, couldn't help but be in awe of the film's country house set. "I thought, this house is bigger than my whole postal code back in Ireland!" he even told The Denver Post.
"Match Point" would later become quite a critical hit with the film earning praise for its dark and twisted tale. It also performed well at the box office, hauling in a worldwide gross of nearly $88 million against an estimated production budget of $15 million. Meanwhile, "Match Point" would also go on to earn an Oscar nod for Allen's original screenplay. As for Meyers, he was about to do his biggest movie yet.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers joined the Mission: Impossible universe
Now, Scarlett Johansson may have been originally attached to star in "Mission: Impossible III," but by the time they wrapped up on "Match Point," it was Jonathan Rhys Meyers who was already working on the action film with Tom Cruise. In the 2006 blockbuster, Meyers is introduced as IMF agent Declan who reminded director J.J. Abrams of Cruise's Ethan Hunt in some ways. "What I loved about Jonathan Rhys Myers is he sort of felt to me in many ways the Irish version of where Tom was in the first "Mission" movie, which is a little bit more of a cocky guy who is at an age when he has not been doing this for very long," Abrams explained during a conference call with various members of the media, according to IGN.
In addition to doing impressive action scenes together, Cruise and Meyers also shared a scene where they pretended to argue in Italian. The scene was particularly memorable for Meyers for a special reason. "I said some things to Tom that people don't say to Tom, even in Italian; but it was good fun and it was our first dialogue scene together," he told Movie Web. "It was kind of intense, but it really broke the ice between the two of us."
And while Meyers' character doesn't die, fans of the franchise haven't seen Declan return since. That said, Meyers is eager to reprise his role.
The actor nabbed the lead role in The Tudors
After making one of the biggest films in his career, Jonathan Rhys Meyers made his way back to the small screen. This time, he was tapped to play King Henry VIII in Showtime's "The Tudors." Robert Greenblatt, then Showtime's President of Entertainment, knew that Meyers was the right actor for the lead role, having worked with him previously. "As a producer of 'Elvis,' I had the chance to get to know Jonathan and see him craft a performance of a character that many doubted could be honestly or sensitively portrayed," Greenblatt once said in a statement.
And while Meyers is no stranger to portraying legendary figures by then, taking on one of the most famous figures in British royalty came with some issues. For starters, the actor had to challenge the notion that King Henry VIII had always been this round, square-faced historical figure. "No one ever painted Henry when he was alive, so nobody really knows what he looks like," Meyers pointed out in his Movie Web interview. "And anyone who spent that much time hunting and bedding women, is not going to be this round-looking, chubby guy." He also clarified that he was playing a much younger version of the king. "He's a very athletic and physical guy, the ultimate shooter, alpha male," Meyers added.
"The Tudors" went on for four seasons, ending its run in 2010. While working on the series, Meyers picked up two Golden Globe nods.
He later took on another lead series role in Dracula
After playing a well-known historical figure, Jonathan Rhys Meyers took on the challenge of playing a well-known character in the horror world. The NBC/Sky Living drama "Dracula" was presented to the actor by Bob Greenblatt, the very same studio executive who worked with him on "Elvis" and cast him on "The Tudors." At that time, Greenblatt had already been appointed the chairman of NBC and offered the lead role to Meyers and the studios couldn't be more pleased. "With him, and with the script, NBC and Sky decided to order 10 episodes straight off the bat without doing a pilot," Tony Krantz, one of the show's executive producers, told TV Goodness.
The actor, who was no stranger to playing slightly tormented onscreen characters by then, immediately jumped at the chance of portraying the show's version of Dracula. On the show, Dracula makes his way to London, introducing himself as American businessman Alexander Grayson. All along, he is hell-bent on revenge. "This is a man who is in an enormous amount of pain, but what makes the character so interesting is the little spark of human that's left inside him, and it's this that gives him the conflict," Meyers explained during an interview with Irish Independent. "Memories of what it was like to love, to lie next to your wife, destroy him and make him vengeful."
"Dracula" ran from 2013 to 2014. Unfortunately, it struggled with its post-pilot ratings.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers stayed put on the small screen
Just a few years after "Dracula" was axed, Jonathan Rhys Meyers jumped at the chance of doing another television project with the actor signing on for another period piece, although it was more action than drama this time around. And unlike in "The Tudors," Meyers also wasn't part of the cast from the start. Instead, he joined History's "Vikings," the show that delves into the story of legendary Viking warrior Ragnar Lothbrok, as it went into its 5th season.
"Vikings" creator Michael Hirst had previously worked with Meyers on "The Tudors" and when he came upon a religious warrior named Heahmund in his research, Hirst knew there was no one else who could play him but "The Tudors" star. "Johnny is just perfect for this crazed, religiously obsessed guy, who is also a sinner. He's a passionate guy, drawn towards women," Hirst told Entertainment Weekly. "He sins, and then when he sins, he punishes himself."
And while Hirst was certainly happy to reunite with Meyers, he also knew that the actor wouldn't stick around for too long due to the nature of his character "Heahmund is such an extreme character that he had to die and he had to die heroically in battle," Hirst said during an interview with Variety. "He's the kind of character who is simply not interested in survival." In the end, Meyers stayed on the show for only one season with Heahmund meeting his end in the episode "Hell."
The veteran actor pivoted back to feature films
After wrapping up his time on "Vikings," Jonathan Rhys Meyers opted to focus more on film projects. For instance, he portrayed Sir James Brooke, the white raja who famously ruled the island of Sarawak when it was still part of Borneo and kept it from becoming colonized by the British for years, in 2021's "Edge of the World." For Meyers, Brooke was a fascinating character. "He became the Raja of Sarawak, but he never actually became a king," the actor told Collider. "He was constantly fighting pirates until he died of lung disease."
Not long after that, Meyers also delved into the world of sci-fi with the film "Wifelike." In the movie, the actor plays a widower who has an AI companion named Meredith who resembles his late wife. Next, the actor moved on to the action thriller "Ambush," which also stars fellow veteran actor Aaron Eckhart. Set during the Vietnam War, Meyers plays a commando who is tasked with acquiring a binder containing the names of Vietnamese operatives. Around the same time, the actor also worked on the 2023 thriller "97 Minutes" with Alec Baldwin.
In a 2022 interview with PopHorror, Meyers said his family is the reason why he is still "passionate" about acting all these years later. "The love for my wife and son has helped me stay passionate," he said. "Fatherhood teaches daily. When I grow up, I want to be like my son."